The past surged in like a tide.
Xu Sanshi felt his entire being drowning in memories of the past, unable to extricate himself.
That young girl, who had chosen to lie before him to save her mother, closed her eyes under the dim light, like a lamb waiting to be slaughtered.
A peerless, exquisitely beautiful little face filled with nervousness was quietly awaiting the arrival of fate. No, for her, perhaps it should be called misfortune—
The real Jiang Nannan ultimately couldn't hold on until she reached home; she fainted right there in the carriage.
Ever since she obtained the Golden Dragon King's blood, her cultivation speed had indeed soared, but her body was withering away day by day.
Not just any soul master could withstand the Golden Dragon King's blood. Although Tang San had only granted her a few drops, it was enough to claim the life of an ordinary soul master!
Compared to Tang Wulin, Jiang Nannan not only lacked the eighteen seals set by Tang San, but also lacked the blessing of the Goddess of Life, and she was certainly not the Son of Nature!
That was the blood of the Golden Dragon King, the other half of the Supreme God King Dragon God's tyrannical physical body, not the blood of some ordinary dragon-type soul beast on the Douluo Continent!
Therefore, even these few drops of Golden Dragon King blood had tortured her to the brink of death over the past year.
Researchers at the Sky Dragon Gate discovered that the Golden Dragon King's blood was gradually remodeling her bloodline, replacing all of her original blood.
Her body was like a special petri dish, continuously providing the Sky Dragon Gate with regenerated Golden Dragon King blood.
Yu Tianlong had obtained a very small amount of diluted Golden Dragon King blood from Jiang Nannan, which was why he had achieved such a huge improvement. Unfortunately, he encountered the Tang Sect team in the competition. The Sky Dragon Gate dazzled for a moment in the tournament, only to end up being eliminated in the first round.
The accompanying disciples of the Sky Dragon Gate found an abandoned mine in the mountains north of Mingdu and immediately began emergency treatment for "Jiang Nan".
Drop by drop, serum dripped into the filtration machine, mixing fully with the golden-red blood, causing a violent but silent reaction. When the blood flowed out of the filter, it had turned into the bright red of human arterial blood. Dark blue residues of unknown composition stuck to the filter mesh, looking like mysterious fluids from a witch's cauldron.
The blood re-entered Jiang Nan's body, forcibly reversing her condition which was like a candle in the wind, increasing the proportion of "human" in her.
This was a forbidden technology. Every drop of serum was refined from the blood of various "Dragon Girls". In the underground forces of Mingdu, the Ordinary Alliance controlled by Shangguan Weier sold a certain amount of Dragon Girls.
This technology was equivalent to killing half-human, half-dragon freaks, and then infusing their life into Jiang Nan's body.
What no one knew was that the Sky Dragon Gate's research data actually contained such technology. It was unimaginable how deep this sect's understanding of dragon species went. If there was enough serum supply, this technology could even save those fallen Dragon Girls, but its cost was too high. The poor Dragon Girls couldn't possibly use it as a routine medical treatment, so they could only be reduced to playthings for the nobility.
Yu Tianlong sat by the bed, looking at the sleeping Jiang Nan. Her skin was still the color of white porcelain, but it had gained some luster, and the purple blood vessels that bulged like angry snakes had also calmed down.
"We are very lucky. She was rescued early enough. If it had been a few hours later, this serum might not have been effective." The head of the Sky Dragon Gate medical team walked behind Yu Tianlong. "We will keep watch here. Young Master, you should seize the time to rest."
"When will she wake up?" Yu Tianlong asked.
"Her current coma is due to the injection of sedatives. In another six or seven hours, when the sedative wears off, Miss Jiang Nan will wake up."
Yu Tianlong nodded. "Then I'll wait six or seven hours before sleeping. She will feel more at peace if she sees someone guarding her bedside when she wakes up."
"Understood. We are all outside. Please call us anytime if needed." The head of the medical team bowed deeply and exited the bedroom.
The temporary ward was very simple; it seemed to be an abandoned military factory of some Soul Engineer Legion. There was only one window looking outside. The window couldn't be opened and was fitted with a soul guide protective shield in disrepair. Even though it had been abandoned for a long time, even a strafing from a Class 4 soul guide cannon couldn't shatter it.
According to sect regulations, during Jiang Nan's treatment, only Herzog and Yu Tianlong could come into direct contact with her. Without special permission, even the sect's medical team could not step within ten paces of Jiang Nan's ward. This was to protect the medical staff. For Jiang Nan, who had lost her reason, depriving life was too easy. It was hard to guarantee when she might feel a certain creature didn't need to live; a very short dragon roar could end a life.
Today, she was a monster. No one wanted to approach a monster. Even the medical team closest to her only observed her through monitoring soul guide equipment.
Although he didn't know exactly what happened to Jiang Nan, Yu Tianlong knew her original identity, including the forgotten figure in the girl's heart, even though he had also tried to walk into her heart—
Just when Yu Tianlong relaxed slightly, he shockingly discovered that gold began to appear on Jiang Nan's neck. That was... dragon scales?
"What's happening?" Yu Tianlong hurriedly leaned in to check. Those golden dragon scales seemed to have a consciousness of their own, starting to spread to every part of Jiang Nan's body. Soon, except for her face, her whole body was covered by these fine dragon scales.
"Medical team! Where is the medical team? Someone come quickly!"
Yu Tianlong shouted at the sect medical members hiding far away. Jiang Nan was not only the hope for the Sky Dragon Gate's rise but also the girl he took care of like a sister.
He really couldn't bear to let Jiang Nan perish like this.
Hearing his call, those medical disciples immediately dragged their instruments and ran over.
They tried to insert needles into Jiang Nan's skin to collect blood samples, but those slender needles couldn't even break the dragon scales on her skin surface.
"Useless! Let me do it!" Yu Tianlong slapped away the clumsy medical staff and prepared to connect the needle to Jiang Nan himself.
However, just at this moment, a horrifying scene occurred.
In the darkness, Jiang Nan had silently sat up, like a wound-up doll. As she slowly opened her eyes, the darkness at the bottom of the well was illuminated by the light of her pupils. It was as if magma flowed in the depths of her eyes. She looked up at the sky, then down at her feet, and then scanned this hellish place.
Her face was like sealed ice, yet she reigned over the world.
Like the awakening of a king, the first thing was to see if this world ten thousand years later remained the same.
Everyone trembled involuntarily under her pressure. Their hands stopped moving. Only the sound of Jiang Nan's long breathing remained at the bottom of the well. The whole world seemed to expand and contract with the sound of her breathing.
"Sure enough, it is the great Golden Dragon King... How could the Golden Dragon King die so easily?"
An aged voice, carrying a hint of surprise, rang out from the accompanying medical team. Yu Tianlong was not unfamiliar with this voice; it was he who had been studying Jiang Nan's bloodline mutation.
He was just wondering why this elder was here. Just as he wanted to turn his head, he didn't realize the arrival of danger.
Pfft—
A huge object struck violently, so fast that Yu Tianlong didn't even have time to activate his martial soul protection. His chest and abdomen were pierced through. His whole person was knocked flying by the immense force and nailed to the wall along with other members of the medical team.
Lights descended from the sky, like spotlights on a stage illuminating actors embracing each other. At the same time, the dance music used for Sky Dragon Gate sacrifices echoed in the mine. The high-power soul guide amplification system played this dance music with majestic momentum, seemingly paying tribute to the miracle of god's descent.
Yu Tianlong raised his head, staring blankly at this bizarre scene.
The dancer wore a slim-fitting tailcoat from the Sun Moon Empire, paired with crisp trousers and a bright purple shirt, a white silk bow tie, and brown boots. Surrounded by soul guide lights, he was so free and unrestrained. He hit every beat accurately. His rotation was brisk and lively. Even a dance superstar would be impressed by this old man's dancing posture.
His dance steps could be called perfect. The only flaw was that this dance music should have been solemn and impassioned, but he danced so triumphantly, simply feeling overjoyed.
How could there be such a dancer in the world? Appearing so ecstatic in front of others' blood?
The old man danced trippingly, stepping in pools of blood, lightly rotating around Yu Tianlong and Jiang Nan. On that aged face incredibly familiar to Yu Tianlong, the smile became increasingly kind and benevolent.
Yu Tianlong was so terrified he almost screamed, but couldn't make a sound. Elder Herzog? Why did he appear here? Did he come to the Sun Moon Empire with the team?
Herzog bowed in front of Yu Tianlong and the dead medical team members, just like an actor taking a curtain call for the only remaining audience. His martial soul, the Yamata no Orochi, hissed and flicked its snake tongue at him.
The reason the Sky Dragon Gate was called the Sky Dragon Gate was precisely because of the existence of this peculiar martial soul. The Yamata no Orochi was hailed as the Emperor of Heaven, a powerful species flowing with dragon blood.
Herzog chuckled lightly and said to Yu Tianlong, "You should feel honored because you are the only one who can witness this miracle."
"What do you want to do? What exactly do you want to do?" Yu Tianlong's voice was hoarse. His lung lobes were injured, and every time he spoke, he could feel the sweet and fishy taste in his mouth.
"That was many years ago, the year the Heaven Dou Empire split. Your first Sect Master came from the Dou Ling Empire to Dragon City and proposed to explore the mysteries of the world with me." Herzog's voice was full of reminiscence. "He convinced me because he knew more about the Dragon Clan than I did, for he was a direct descendant of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon. I only wanted to use Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon martial soul genetic technology to create super soldiers carrying dragon martial soul genes to fight against the Heavenly Soul Empire. But his goal was the core of the Star Dou Great Forest, where descendants of the Dragon Clan from tens of thousands of years ago slept. I don't know where he gathered that intelligence, but he obviously couldn't set foot there. Because not many years after Sea God Tang San ascended, a group of fierce beasts led by Beast God Di Tian appeared before the eyes of the world."
"Human soul masters have no means to contend with Di Tian at all. Even though we once risked death to penetrate deep into Star Dou and break into the forbidden land, the final result was nothing but utter defeat."
"What do you mean? What are you trying to say!" Yu Tianlong clenched his fists. Despite being in extreme terror, he still wanted to know what conspiracy Herzog was hiding.
"We encountered Di Tian and Xiong Jun. When I was seriously injured and escaping death, your great-grandfather left me behind and fled alone. I used my martial soul's ability to create a false appearance of death, deceived the two Beast Kings, and sneaked back to the Lake of Taboo."
Yu Tianlong listened to his narration in a daze. He didn't expect that behind this elder who had devoted himself to the sect, there was such a story.
"Do you know? Under the water of the Star Dou Great Forest, hailed as the Lake of Life, what an exaggerated behemoth is hidden!" Herzog was ecstatic: "She is simply too beautiful. Just the dragon might emitting from her made it impossible for me to approach!"
"But I wasn't resigned. I had reached a moment where my life was in critical danger; I had to seek a glimmer of life there! Right at the bottom of that lake, I found a huge piece of special rare metal. The life energy contained in it exceeded my imagination!" Herzog narrated excitedly, using vivid body language to compare his past situation: "I used all my strength to barely chisel off a thumb-sized piece from that metal and fled from there before the two Beast Kings returned."
"Relying on that piece of metal, I survived and gained a long life. After I returned to the Sky Dragon Gate, I learned that the Sect Master who abandoned me to flee had been buried under Xiong Jun's Heaven-Tearing Claw."
"I laughed at his end, but I had to utilize the Sky Dragon Gate he left behind. So, I pretended to have been saved by the Sect Master sacrificing his life to protect me. While pretending to devote myself to the sect, I used the sect's power to conduct research." Herzog laughed loudly, tears almost flowing out. Yu Tianlong, firmly bitten by the Yamata no Orochi, had a complicated expression.
"Through repeatedly studying materials on the continent, I became increasingly convinced of the existence of the Dragon King. I also agreed with his plan. To ascend to the throne of the world, one must inherit the Dragon Clan's legacy. We human soul masters should walk the path of evolution and become new dragons. But to achieve that goal, we first have to find the Dragon King. The Dragon Clan did not leave an evolutionary path for humans. In the eyes of those dragons, humans are just an inferior race."
"Perhaps because I did too many human experiments, that metal sustaining life was defiled by wraiths. However, I had long fashioned it into the shape of a carving knife, so I simply sold it to a soul engineer." Speaking of this, Herzog sighed, seemingly distressed about being unable to extend his life.
"The Spirit Devouring Ferocious Blade?" Yu Tianlong seemed to think of something and muttered.
"A year ago, Demon King Huo Yuhao fought the Sun Moon Empire with his group of partners. The subsequent phenomenon of god descent, I believe many people noticed through long-range observation and soul tool recordings." Herzog smiled and said: "I was also one of the witnesses because I saw that once-great body and another radiantly golden existence."
"When two kings clash, there must be injuries. I tried to find opportunities in the ruins after the war, but you delivered the opportunity right in front of me."
Hearing this, Yu Tianlong's eyes widened slightly, his gaze subconsciously shifting to Jiang Nan on the bed.
"That's right. This lucky girl actually obtained the blood of the Dragon King!" Herzog noticed his gaze, nodded with a smile, and walked closer to Jiang Nan.
Jiang Nan was enraged and let out a deafening roar at Herzog. A gale swept across the entire stage.
But Herzog was fearless in the gale. He mustered up the courage to approach Jiang Nan, his eyes full of greed. When he approached within three meters, the opponent still didn't attack him, but instead hugged her head in fear like a child.
This action finally gave Herzog tremendous guts. He pounced, knocking Jiang Nan to the ground, tearing open her dress to reveal her back covered with crawling golden dragon scales.
Hidden under the youthful and graceful curves was a violent, destructive, and bloodthirsty kingly lineage.